April 5, 2024

The Essential Education Implementation Assessment Working Group is searching for instructors who are teaching General Education courses to fill out a brief survey.

Completing this survey will help our working group accomplish three objectives:

1. Get a sense of your interpretation of the Essential Education learning outcomes (aka Essential Abilities or EAs), as currently defined.
2. Understand how current General Education courses support EAs in terms of content, activities and/or assignments.
3. Gather your suggestions for revision of the EA definitions for clarity.

Thank you for your assistance. This information will help guide plans for supporting and assessing EAs in courses and across the program. Faculty will have other opportunities to provide input throughout the process of developing Michigan Tech’s Essential Education program.

Estimated time to complete the survey is 10-15 minutes. We greatly appreciate your time and contributions to the building of this student-focused initiative.

Take the Essential Ability Alignment Survey.

One of the University’s top priorities is to strengthen our ability to both attract top-quality employees and retain and support the exceptional people who work here. We know it is our people who make Michigan Tech so special and who drive the fulfillment of our institutional mission.

To this end, Michigan Tech has partnered with Segal, a human resources consulting firm with an extensive portfolio of experience in higher education. With Segal, we have identified the need to update our current pay administration and pay structure to be more consistent with contemporary practice.

Together, MTU and Segal have begun the process of developing a pay delivery system with a more robust pay structure and an updated, centralized pay administration. This new system will make decisions regarding pay more consistent across campus. Other benefits include reducing potential pay disparities, adding clarity regarding career progression and lifting employee morale. Together, these will help the University better compete for talent and better serve our current employees.

The University’s upgraded pay delivery system will begin with an initial focus on staff positions. This new staff pay delivery system will include a compensation philosophy and a job architecture program that will add consistency to the positions, levels and titles that exist within each job family. All regular, non-faculty, non-union and non-temporary staff, both full-time and part-time, will be part of this system, which we plan to have in place next summer, when fiscal year 2025 starts in July.

Overall, this is an extensive, five-phase process, one that we are undertaking with great care. We are excited about this initiative and will continue to inform you of our progress through regular updates in Tech Today.

For more detailed information about the initiative and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit the MTU Compensation Structure website. Please contact our Human Resources team at compensationsystem@mtu.edu with any remaining questions or concerns.

Thank you in advance for your support of this initiative, and for all you do to make Michigan Tech such a great place to work.

The Institute for Policy, Ethics, and Culture (IPEC) has published our April newsletter, now available to the campus community.

IPEC has several collaborative, interdisciplinary funding applications underway that we are proud to report on. Check out our affiliate upcoming events, and see next Friday's (April 12) deadline for faculty and graduate student seed funding.

College of Engineering Dean Audra Morse has selected the core first-year engineering faculty team from the Department of Engineering Fundamentals (EF) for the Deans’ Teaching Showcase for their work in developing and delivering an innovative learning experience. The team includes Matt Barron, James Bittner, Gabriel Draughon, Amy (AJ) Hamlin, Brett Hamlin, Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, Amber Kemppainen, Amy Monte and Ken Thiemann, and is supported by staff, students and adjunct instructors who are essential to the team’s mission. The team will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other showcase members and is a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series.

The team implements many high-impact practices across 11 sections of ENG1101 and ENG1102, serving 800-1,000 students per semester. Students enter with a wide variety of skills and attributes. The team adopts many strategies to ensure all students develop the knowledge and mindsets needed to succeed in second-year classes associated with 18 different majors.

This passionate team of educators continually pushes the boundaries of pedagogy in order to meet students where they are at and support their growth throughout their first year. Their practices include cohort scheduling that places students in several of the same classes together, making it easier to form study groups and friendships; flipped classrooms that foster hands-on learning during class time; and undergraduate near-peer mentors from the innovative LEarning with Academic Partners (LEAP) program who support the active learning environment.

The team embraces the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) framework, which fosters a mindset of curiosity, building connections across disciplines and creating value for others. By using project-based learning and design thinking, students identify opportunities, design solutions using the tools and mindsets of engineering problem solving, and build and test prototypes.

“The EF team is a role model for collaborative instructional teams," noted Mary Raber, EF's department chair. “Everyone has participated in professional development opportunities such as entrepreneurial-minded learning, design thinking and inclusive STEM teaching to build their educational skill set. Together, they create an inspiring and dynamic learning environment for students while supporting their growth and development as first-year college students.”

Student evaluations reflect the team's positive impact, with typically high ratings and positive feedback that includes comments such as, “I really enjoyed your enthusiasm towards the curriculum and found it very helpful that you would sit down and work through something if I had a question,” and “The enthusiastic and engaging energy you bring to the class gives a boost of energy and makes me feel more motivated,” and “Your enthusiasm and interest in our learning was great and the hands-on activities and team projects allowed a lot of room for creativity and personal interest!”

Morse commended the EF Team for their success. “Their diligence in continually innovating the first-year engineering program is phenomenal and key to Engineering’s high first-year retention rate,” she said. “The team constantly looks for ways to help our students succeed, helping them in the critical transition into college, and building their skills so they can be successful in their major.”

Thank you to this year's Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC) participants!

The GRC and Annual Banquet 2024 was held on March 27! Thank you to everyone who participated and volunteered to make this year's event a success! We look forward to making next year's event even better!

Congratulations to the GRC winners:

Oral Presentation:

• First Place: Natalie Nold
• Second Place: Nithin Allwayin
• Third Place: Brilynn Janckila

Poster Presentation:

• First Place: Jessica Czarnecki
• Second Place: Cody Tuftee
• Third Place: Victoria Santillan

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering candidate Aamir Rahmani will defend his doctoral dissertation next Thursday (April 11) at 9 a.m. in person in EERC 501 and virtually via Zoom.

The title of the dissertation is "Modeling of Inverter-Based Resources for Hardware in the Loop Testing of Protection and Control Schemes."

Rahmani is advised by Bruce Mork.

Ph.D. in Biological Sciences candidate Catherine Rono will present a doctoral dissertation defense today (April 5) from 3-4 p.m. in GLRC 202.

Rono's dissertation is titled "Identifying and Exploiting Metabolic Vulnerabilities to Target LKB1- Mutant Cancers."

From the abstract:
Cancer heterogeneity significantly impacts treatment efficacy, underscoring the urgent need for personalized therapies tailored to the genetic and molecular differences of individual patients. Among various strategies, targeting metabolic deregulation — a hallmark of cancer often linked to oncogenic alterations — offers a promising avenue. This approach is particularly relevant in the context of Liver Kinase B1 (LKB1), a crucial player in cellular metabolism and tumor suppression, which is frequently mutated in cancers. Mutations in LKB1 are associated with accelerated tumor progression and adverse clinical outcomes, highlighting the necessity for targeted therapeutic strategies.

Our research unveils a novel aspect of LKB1's function in regulating cyclic nucleotide metabolism, specifically its role in suppressing a set of phosphodiesterase (PDE) expressions. Particularly, LKB1 represses PDE3 through the activation of downstream salt-inducible kinase (SIK). Furthermore, PDE3 modulators can selectively target LKB1-deficient tumor cells, in contrast to those with intact LKB1. In addition, we identify resistance in some LKB1-deficient cells due to the loss of SLFN12, a critical factor for PDE3 modulator-induced cell death. This resistance can be overcome by reactivation of SLFN12 expression with epigenetic inhibitors or cAMP inducers.

To further understand the mechanisms behind PDE3-modulator-induced cell death, we utilized a CRISPR/Cas9 small guide RNA (sgRNA) library screening approach targeting all metabolic genes in HeLa cells. We identified sarcolipin (SLN) as a crucial factor, finding that the loss of SLN significantly protects cells from death. Given SLN's role in negatively regulating the activity of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA), a SERCA activator demonstrated a protective effect in HeLa SLN wild-type cells by reducing calcium uptake into the endoplasmic reticulum. These results indicate a complex protein interaction network, including PDE3/SLFN12 and SERCA/SLN complexes, plays a role in cell death induced by PDE3 modulators.

Rono is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Mark Tang, Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Tech.

Rono has presented her academic work at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) International Conference, Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC), among various other local conferences. She was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award (2023), HRI Summer Graduate Fellowship (2023), Songer Research Award for Human Health (2023) and Doctoral Finishing Fellowship (2024). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia. After completion of her Ph.D. program, Rono aspires to work as a research scientist at a pharmaceutical company, where she can apply her skills and knowledge to contribute in cancer drug discovery.

Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering candidate Hemanth Kumar Reddy Basireddy will present a final doctoral defense on Monday (April 8) from 12:30-2 p.m. The defense will be presented online only. Virtual attendance is invited via Zoom.

Basireddy's dissertation is titled "Computational Evaluation of Some Basic Material Parameters in Cobalt-Aluminum Alloys."

From the abstract:
The First Principles Density Functional Theory study is conducted on BCC Co-Al based solid solution which obeys Vegard’s law. Chemical bond energies are calculated beyond 1NN interactions as second-nearest-neighbor and third-nearest-neighbor chemical bond energy values are significant and contribute to the total energy of the alloy. Elastic energy developed in the alloys due to the atomic radius misfit between solute and solvent atoms is also considered. Effects of atomic ordering on 1NN, 2NN, and 3NN chemical ordering energies and lattice parameter are investigated.

Basireddy started his M.S. studies in spring 2019. Unfortunately, his study was interrupted by COVID-19, which forced him to return to India. Fortunately, upon recovery in health, he was able to conduct computational materials research remotely from India using Michigan Tech's on-campus supercomputer, Superior. Prior to COVID-19, Basireddy also conducted experimental research on Co-Al alloys.

Ph.D. in Computational Science and Engineering student Yuguang Wang will present a doctoral research proposal on Wednesday (April 10) from 10-11:30 a.m. via Zoom online meeting.

The title of Wang’s proposal is “GPU-based Out-of-Memory Graph Processing Design.”

Join the Zoom meeting.

Read the proposal abstract on the Computing News Blog.

M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering candidate Abishek Subramanian will present his master's defense on Wednesday (April 10) at 2 p.m. in person in EERC 122 and virtually via Zoom.

The title of Subramanian's defense is "Application of Fusion based Deep Learning Models to Improve Millimeter Wave Beamforming."

Subramanian is advised by Aurenice Oliveira.

M.S. in Geophysics candidate Morgan Wilke will present her master's defense at 3:30 p.m. Monday (April 8) in Dow 610. Virtual attendance is also invited via Zoom.

Wilke is advised by Greg Waite, with Chad Deering and Simon Carn serving as committee members.

Wilke's master's thesis is titled "The Influence of Volcano Edifice Resonance on the Seismic Triggering of Thermal Activity at Active Volcanoes."

From the abstract:
There is an established correlation between large earthquakes and volcanic unrest, however the mechanisms between this connection are not well understood. Relatively small changes in stress within a volcanic system could be enough to initiate a response. One aspect that could serve to amplify small dynamic stress changes is volcanic edifice resonance triggered by surface waves at resonant frequency. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between thermal activity of volcanoes and various thresholds of Love wave amplitudes at resonance caused by teleseismic earthquake events above a M 7. Satellite-derived thermal data from 25 volcanoes is modeled in relation to 5 different threshold values of Love wave amplitudes at resonance, this value was calculated using the synthetic teleseismic waveforms from 171 earthquakes between January 2000 and September 2023. Two time windows, centered on each earthquake, are used to observe for short term and long term effects, a 28 day and a 1 year window. Basaltic magma volcanoes, including lava lake volcanoes, exhibit mostly increased activity levels which have higher average thermal emissions at higher thresholds which drops at lower thresholds, while andesitic volcanoes display a negative response of thermal data which again shows higher rates of activity at higher amplitude thresholds that drop as amplitude decreases. Magma composition is the main influence of thermal activity increase and increases with the low viscosity of basaltic magmas allowing bubbles to escape from the melt when affected by shaking to increase volcanic activity. The amplitude of the surface wave’s at edifice resonance are observed to increase the amount of positive/negative reaction due to the increased shaking caused by larger amplitude values triggering magma movement in an upward, downward, or lateral direction thus influencing the thermal reactions in the magma and triggering higher levels of volcanic activity.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is hosting a seminar presented by Ph.D. candidate Jacob Belke on Monday (April 8) from 10 a.m. to noon in M&M 610. Virtual attendance is also invited via Zoom.

The seminar is titled "High Temperature Strength Reduces Soldering in Aluminum High Pressure Die Casting."

From the abstract:
Die soldering, an adhesion defect in high pressure die casting (HPDC), is a symptom of localized sticking where a localized portion of the cast material is adhered to the tooling surface causing build up over time. This requires the tooling to be serviced which incurs additional costs to the process that gets passed on to the parts. Historically, soldering has been mitigated using lubricants, coatings, and alloy chemistry modifications but solder persists.

The Tresca friction thermomechanical model suggests soldering occurs when the local interfacial shear stress between the casting and die surface exceeds the local shear strength of the casting. The ratio of these shear strengths, as a function of temperature, has been shown to predict solder. Research up to this point has focused on reducing the friction coefficient, and in turn the interface shear strength, with no work done on the strengthening of the castings regarding solder. Chemistry of the alloy has been shown to influence soldering behavior, but for the wrong reason as Al-Fe intermetallics are the commonly accepted soldering mechanism.

High temperature strengthening mechanisms through chemistry modifications were investigated to support the Tresca friction model. First, the improvement of the solid solution and Orowan strengthening mechanisms was quantified for several aluminum HPDC alloys through the addition of magnesium, improving the hot shear strength of the alloys. Next, the improved alloy shear strength was applied to the Tresca model and tested using a laboratory scale permanent mold designed to solder along with a full scale HPDC production trial with results pointing towards a new soldering mechanism. Finally, the relationship between solder and the casting surface chill zone or “skin” is examined and discussed.

Belke received a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology in 2017 and his P.E. license in 2023, and is currently a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering candidate under Paul Sanders.

During his time at Michigan Tech, Belke has participated and advised the past three Michigan Tech teams in the Steel Founders Society cast in steel competition, placing third in the Best Design and Process category. Belke is currently a technical associate in Mercury Marine’s lost foam foundry, where he oversees the production of several aluminum lost foam castings for Mercury’s outboard engines. He is currently the chair of the AFS Lost Foam division, a member of the Cast Metals Advisory Board for Missouri S&T, and a producer on the ASTM B07 committee.

Michigan Tech hockey fifth-year forward Logan Pietila has signed a professional contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL for the 2024-25 season. He will join the team immediately on an amateur tryout agreement.

Pietila appeared in 180 games for the Huskies, tying the all-time games played record. The two-time captain tallied 98 career points with 45 goals and 53 assists, registering 20 points in four of his five seasons.

Pietila scored 13 game-winning goals and six power-play goals in his career. As a senior, he tallied a career-best 29 points with 13 goals and 16 assists.

Read more at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Job Postings for Friday, April 5, 2024

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email humanresources@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.

Head Women's Soccer Coach, Athletics. Apply online.

Coordinator of Academic and Community Conduct, Academic and Community Conduct. Apply online.

Food Service Helper (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #24067, 24077, Dining Services (AFSCME posting dates April 5 to April 11, 2024 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal AFSCME applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal AFSCME posting dates). Apply online.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Accommodations are available. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations to apply for employment, or for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or humanresources@mtu.edu.

Jim Baker (VPR) was quoted by Crain’s Detroit Business and mentioned by Radio Results Network in stories about InvestUP and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s new Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund — a $3 million pre-seed fund to support entrepreneurs across the state in the outdoor recreation industry. Baker is the managing director of the fund and Michigan Tech is one of the regional partner organizations serving on the fund’s advisory board.

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Nich Radcliffe (VPA) was quoted by WJMN Local 3 in a story previewed the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts’ upcoming presentation of “Purple Hearts,” a based-on-true-events play telling the story of three men trapped on the sunken USS West Virginia following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Radcliffe is directing the production, which will run Wednesday through next Saturday (April 10-13) at the Rozsa. The story was picked up by Yahoo! News.

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Nancy Langston (SS) was mentioned by Bridge Michigan as one of the panelists who took part in its March “Lunch Break” discussion held March 28 on the topic of Michigan’s disappearing winters. A recording of the discussion is available on the story page and on YouTube.

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Waste Advantage Magazine mentioned Michigan Tech as the recipient of a $210,070 grant from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to develop a location to recycle vehicle tires. MTU was one of seven grant recipients statewide, which together received a total $2 million toward scrap tire market development efforts.

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WLUC TV6 covered Michigan Tech hockey senior defenseman Jed Pietila’s signing of a professional contract with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye.

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Florida’s Levy County Board of County Commission mentioned Michigan Tech in a press release announcing the appointment of Christopher Mills ’84 (B.S. Civil Engineering) to a two-year term on the county’s planning commission.

CS Colloquium with William Frantz ’11

William Frantz ’11 (B.S. in Computer Science) will present a Department of Computer Science (CS) Colloquium lecture today (April 5) from 3-4 p.m. in Rekhi 214 and via Zoom online meeting.

Frantz’s talk is titled “The Big Shift.”

This talk is part of the Department of Computer Science alumni lecture series, “Our Golden Years: Behind Us, Or Still Ahead?”

Join the Zoom meeting.

Read the talk abstract and speaker bio on the Computing News Blog.

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Fee Increase for Certain Immigration and Naturalization Benefit Requests

On Jan. 30, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a final rule to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees for the first time since 2016.

This final rule went into effect Monday (April 1).

The new fee schedule can be accessed at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Frequently Asked Questions on the USCIS Fee Rule page.

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Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar with Kaitlin Reinl

The next Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday (April 8) in GLRC 202.

Kaitlin Reinl, research director, Lake Superior Reserve, will present "St. Louis Estuary Research."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

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Call for Applications: 2024 Songer Research Award for Human Health

Applications are now being accepted for the 2024 Songer Research Award for Human Health. Matthew Songer ’79 (B.S. Biological Sciences) and Laura Songer ’80 (B.S. Biological Sciences) have generously donated funds to the College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) for the past seven years to support a research project competition, the Songer Research Award for Human Health, for undergraduate and graduate students.

Students may propose an innovative medically oriented research project in any area of human health. The best projects will demonstrate the potential to have a broad impact on improving human life. This research will be pursued in consultation with faculty members within the CSA. Awarded in spring 2024, the Songers’ gift will support one award for undergraduate research ($4,000) and a second award for graduate research ($6,000). Matching funds from the College will allow two additional awards. The research should be conducted over summer 2024 and/or the following academic year.

The application deadline is 4 p.m. on April 29. Applications may be emailed to CSA Dean Ravindra Pandey at pandey@mtu.edu. To learn more about eligibility, requirements for the award and other important details, visit the Pre-Health Professions Blogs.

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Chemistry Seminar with Roger J. Guillory II

Roger J. Guillory II, assistant professor at the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University, and the Department of Pediatrics, Section of Cardiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, will be presenting at this week's Chemistry Seminar.

The seminar will be held in person from 3-4 p.m. today (April 5) in Chem Sci 101.

Guillory’s presentation is titled "Biodegradable Metals for Temporary Stenting: Addressing Key Obstacles and Future Outlook.”

From the abstract:
This talk will cover relevant topics surrounding the use of bioabsorbable metals for vascular stenting. Vascular stenting is a demanding application of bioabsorbable metals, and deeper understanding of metal material / stent performance in pre-clinical models and how they relate to current clinical performance would increase the rate of device translation to the clinic. A significant gap in knowledge exists regarding how absorbable metals interact with the inflammatory response. Work done by our research group will be shown which demonstrates how in vitro and in vivo preclinical models can be used to offer insight into the local inflammatory reaction and its participation in tissue metal clearance. Emphasis will be placed on understanding exogenous metal additions and their inflammatory clearance from tissue using semi-quantitative inductively coupled plasma time of flight mass spectrometry imaging (LA-ICP-TOF-MS). Critical clinical issues, such as the lack of radiopacity will be addressed and new strategies to mitigate them will be presented. This talk will also cover new potential applications which span congenital heart defects in pediatric cases.

Guillory received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Michigan Technological University in 2019 and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University with research interests that included cellular and molecular interactions of bioactive materials, bioabsorbable metals, advanced biomaterials characterization techniques and developing biomaterials for vascular medical devices. He returned to Michigan Tech in 2020 as an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Beginning in August 2023, Guillory was appointed an assistant professor in the Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin's Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Guillory was recently awarded an R15 grant from the National Institutes of Health, where his team will determine the contribution of macrophage-laden, inflamed vascular tissue on the biocorrosion progression of state-of-the-art magnesium alloys. Guillory’s current work is focused on developing next-generation bioabsorbable metal materials, with an emphasis on their use in cardiovascular applications. Working in collaboration with researchers at the Herma Heart Institute in the Pediatric Cardiology Section of the Department of Pediatrics and Children's Research Institute, he seeks to apply these advanced engineering materials to help solve the complex issues surrounding the permanent nature of current surgical implants used to treat congenital cardiovascular disease.

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MS Defense: Aimee Zimmerman, GMES

M.S. in Geophysics candidate Aimee Zimmerman will present her master's defense at noon today (April 5) in Dow 610. Virtual attendance is also invited via Zoom.

Zimmerman is advised by Greg Waite, with Chad Deering and Simon Carn serving as committee members.

Her master's thesis is titled "Response of Open Volcanic Systems to Static Stress Changes."

From the abstract:
Large earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater can alter thermal emissions and even trigger an eruption of a nearby volcano. The stress changes imparted by large earthquakes can cause otherwise stable conditions within the magmatic system to be disturbed, potentially inducing volcanic activity. The extent of the triggering potential is still unknown due to the lack of understanding of what specific mechanism works to start the activity. Utilizing thermal satellite imaging of volcanoes will indicate the degree of change in volcanic activity that is promoted through increasing heat flux values from magma movement. Coupling thermal satellite data with records of large earthquake events, the cumulative sum of power readings will demonstrate the correlation that exists between volcanic activity and the occurrence of large-magnitude earthquakes. The normal stress perpendicular to the direction of maximum stress and strain was calculated on each volcano within 500 km of a large earthquake. The cumulative power from the MODVOLC and MIROVA databases was calculated over -1 to 1 year after positive stress and strain, and negative stress and strain changes. Spikes in thermal data were present in positive stress and strain around 7 months after an earthquake, and 0.1-0.2 months for negative stress and strain. A possible triggering mechanism for the spikes that are present in the positive parameter changes is bubble nucleation which occurs when positive strain values are imparted on the magmatic system. Not every volcano-earthquake pairing resulted in spikes of thermal data, which could indicate that remote triggering depends on whether the volcano is in a critical state.

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PhD Proposal Defense: Xinzhu (Sabrina) Li, GMES

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences student Xinzhu (Sabrina) Li will present her doctoral research proposal defense at 3 p.m. today (April 5) in Dow 610.

Li is advised by Xin Xi (GMES), with Byung-Jun Kim (Math), Judith Perlinger (CEGE) and Shiliang Wu (GMES/CEGE) serving as committee members.

The research proposal defense is titled "Quantifying the Relative Importance of Near-surface Wind and Hydroclimate Parameters in Modulating the Dust Emission in Global Models."

From the abstract:
Mineral dust plays an important role in the Earth system, and has a wide range of impacts on the climate, air quality, agriculture, road safety, and human health. Dust emission occurs when the near surface wind speed exceeds a threshold value which strongly depends on the hydroclimate condition. Quantifying the multifaceted impacts of dust aerosol requires a good understanding and accurate model representation of the dust emission process, and its response to changes in the surface winds and hydroclimate condition. Currently, substantial inter-model discrepancies exist in the global model representations of the intensity, distribution, and variability of dust emission. In this study, we attempt to evaluate the dust model consistency and uncertainty from a new perspective. Specifically, we will quantify the relative importance of wind and hydroclimate conditions in modulating the interannual variability of dust emission in a family of global coupled aerosol-climate models. Our analysis reveals significant disparities in the sensitivity of dust emission to surface winds versus hydroclimate parameters among global models. Wind speed is identified as a dominant factor in hyperarid areas (such as the Sahara and Middle East) within all models, whereas the importance of hydroclimate variables shows mixed results for regions with higher precipitation variability, such as South Africa, North America, and Australia. This study highlights the need for developing reliable, long-term observations over dust source areas to constrain the representation of dust emission sensitivity to the driving factors.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

Master's Defense: Md Abu Bakr Siddique

Friday, April 5, 8–9 a.m. | Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC), 501

Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisor: Hongyu An The Integration of Neuromorphic Computing in Autonomous Robotic Systems Attend Virtually: https://t.ly/fqacu

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Master's Defense: Courtney Vanwagoner

Friday, April 5, 9–10 a.m. | R. L. Smith Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics Building (MEEM), MEEM 1021

Mechanical Engineering Co-advisors: Jason Blough and James DeClerck RODER ANALYSIS OF BALL SCREW ASSEMBLIES FOR NOISE DETECTION Attend Virtually:...

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Graduating and Still Looking? Walk In for Coffee and a Chat

Friday, April 5, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. | Administration and Student Services Building, 220 Career Services

Are you graduating soon and need help finding a job? Come in for a coffee and chat with one of our career advisors. We can help tailor your search, review your resume, bounce...

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Master's Defense: Saumik Mallik

Friday, April 5, 10–11 a.m. | Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building, 873

Environmental Engineering Advisor: Pengfei Xue Assessing Wave Dynamics Induced Coastal Flooding Along the Southern Shores Of Lake Superior

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PhD Defense: Lea Morath

Friday, April 5, 10–11 a.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

Biomedical Engineering Advisor: Jeremy Goldman Effect of Bio-environment and Cu Alloying on Zinc Implant Biocompatibility

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Master's Defense: Aimee Zimmerman

Friday, April 5, 12–1 p.m. | Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building, 610

Geophysics Advisor: Gregory Waite Response of Open Volcanic Systems to Static Stress Chan ges

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Computational Modeling of Coronary Artery Blood Flow: Investigating Links Between Vascular Structure and Hemodynamics

Friday, April 5, 3 p.m. | Minerals and Materials Engineering Building (M&M), 610

Biomedical Engineering Research Seminar Dr. Noelia Grande Gutiérrez Carnegie Mellon University Abstract Coronary artery disease (CAD) is caused by the build-up of...

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CS Colloquium Lecture: William Frantz ’11

Friday, April 5, 3–4 p.m. | Rekhi Hall, 214

William Frantz ’11 BS in Computer Science, will present a Department of Computer Science Colloquium lecture on Friday, April 5, 2024, from 3-4 pm in Rekhi 214 and via Zoom...

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Master's Defense: Dylan Norris

Friday, April 5, 3–4 p.m. | Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building, 202

Biological Sciences Advisor: Paul Goetsch DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF ALTERNATIVE TRANSGENIC REPORTER SYSTEMS IN CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS

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PhD Defense: Catherine Rono

Friday, April 5, 3–4 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Biological Sciences Advisor: Xiaohu Tang Identifying and Exploiting Metabolic Vulnerabilities to Target LKB1-Mutant Cancers

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PhD Defense: Zazil Santizo Huerta

Friday, April 5, 3–4 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 327B

Mathematical Sciences Advisor: Melissa Keranen On Graph Decompositions and Designs: Exploring the Hamilton-Waterloo Problem With a Factor of 6-Cycles and Projective Planes...

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Video Game Jazz Ensemble Presented by Michigan Tech Music

Friday, April 5, 7:30 p.m. | Video Game Jazz Ensemble PRESENTER

Join the Video Game Jazz Ensemble for an energetic evening of video game jazz covers. CONTENT GUIDANCE